Six days! Six days l spent drawing a piece l am not happy with! I have wanted to draw a toucan for such a long time, and now that l have, l don’t like it! I suppose l wanted to share with you the simple truth that not every piece we draw works out even close to what we were hoping for. I know sometimes we look at other artists work (especially on social media) and assume every piece they do works out well. I am sure l am not alone in having pieces that don’t work though. I am happy with myself for finishing it, something l really try hard to do. And l made myself finish it properly, l didn’t rush. But l learned some things here. I really hate working with black! Even though l layered other colors with it so that it wasn’t flat black, l still hated it! It makes me feel miserable. I mean, l knew before this piece that l don’t enjoy working with dark colors, but l thought there were enough other colors in this piece for it to be ok. Turns out that there weren’t! l had all kinds of issues with this piece. I can’t stop it looking cartoonish. Is that just because toucans do look a bit cartoonish? It won’t pop off the paper and l am not sure why! And l had huge problems with black pencil dust muddying up the other colors! It didn’t matter how much l brushed and erased, or that l kept Glassene under my hand, that black got everywhere! Except where l wanted it! It kept disappearing from the birds body!
l think on reflection l should have made the green leaves much more green than they were in the photo. The only bit that worked quite well for me were the stringy bits on the branch, which turned out better than expected. So l got myself quite low over this piece. I start to feel that l just don’t make any progress. That l will never be as good as l want to be. I am not trying to be the best in the world (which is just as well as that is an unattainable goal for anyone), just the best that l can be (which is also unattainable really as we can always be just a little better!), and l felt like l had gone a few steps backwards with this piece. l just wanted to share that with you because not everyone thinks every piece they do is awesome. It is normal to feel not good enough sometimes. It is normal to have pieces that don’t work out so well. It is ok to say this wasn’t as good as it should have been. It is normal to lose your confidence at times. The important thing is not to give up. Finish that piece however hard it is. Learn something from it. Even if all you learn is to pick your subjects more wisely or that you shouldn’t work with black! Then pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start on a brand new piece! That is what l am doing. Back to my favorite subjects for a little while to get my confidence back! And l will be back very soon with some new pencils l am testing out, which is always exciting. So watch this space! And keep drawing, even if it isn’t always quite what you wish it to be.
8 Comments
Renea
7/6/2018 07:18:14 am
I feel this is a great peace. He is BEAUTIFUL! I think you are correct about the fact that Toucans do look cartoonist.
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Sallyann
7/6/2018 04:12:03 pm
Well, you are very kind! I wish l had never started this piece?. They really are odd looking birds and l should have known! But thank you ????
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Black can be a PITA to work with no matter what you mix with it. I think the colours do jump off the page, nice bright colour to his body. And yeah, its very hard not to make a toucan look cartoonish, they just look like goofy silly birds no matter what you do lol :)
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Sallyann
7/6/2018 04:14:35 pm
You know you are right! Why was l hoping for anything else with a toucan!??. I could kick myself though when l have spent so much time on a piece!
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Sallyann
7/7/2018 07:46:35 am
Thank you for your kind words! I struggled right from the start with this piece! I think it is one l will put to one side and pull out at a future date when l understand how to remedy it. ?????
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I never knew this kind of art..it is amazing and iam so curious to learn this art...please guide me how i can join live classes to learn efficiently. The knowledge on pencils and colours with usage is really very helpful. Thanks for every word and information.
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YAŞAR EKER
9/3/2019 11:11:49 pm
BU TÜR ÇİZİMLERİNİZ'DEN TAKVİM YAPABİLİR MİYİM BUNUN İÇİN
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